What if you had a real choice on your ballot?

Last November, Utahns outside of Salt Lake County roundly rejected Hillary Clinton. Only 14 percent of those voters cast their votes for her. That means few considered her a viable choice to vote for.

The same was true for many other Democratic candidates throughout the state outside of Salt Lake County. Peter Clemens got only 27 percent of the vote in the 1st Congressional District. Misty Snow received 22 percent outside Salt Lake County.

Indeed, rarely did Democratic candidates outside of Salt Lake County get above 35 percent of the vote. In many races, no Democrat even appeared on the ballot. In fact, over one-third of the state House races went uncontested last year; the vast majority of those were absent a Democratic candidate.

For most voters in Utah, campaigns for office are non-existent. Outside of a few select areas of the state, there is no viable competition. The Republican incumbent wins again, unless he or she has been defeated in a primary that is closed to most voters in the state. This is particularly true for county offices, but often for state legislative races as well.

Even when there is a Democrat in the race, often that candidate is a “name-on-ballot” candidate only. He or she has done little or no campaigning, typically takes issue positions out of line with Utahns, and makes only a minimal effort to appeal to voters in the district. The Democrat is not a viable choice.

For the Republican outside Salt Lake County, it is a different story. Victory in November is virtually assured. Even with SB54, in a majority of cases, the convention remains the real contest. Since the general electorate is insignificant in deciding whether a Republican incumbent wins again, not surprisingly those Republican officials care much more about what the Republican convention delegates want than they do about what ninety-nine percent of the voters are concerned with.

Utah elections are so one-sided it is difficult to call them elections. Utah voters are left out of the process. I doubt that these types of elections were what the Framers had in mind when they created a representative democracy in the United States.

Now, all of that is changed. Utah voters have another option — the United Utah Party. Our party is not another fringe party. We are centrists. We believe that pragmatic policy solutions can be found for our pressing policy problems, and we can achieve those solutions without partisan rancor.

For example, unlike most Republican legislators, we believe that public education needs a significant financial boost and we favor a compassionate approach to immigration and refugees. Unlike most Democratic legislators, we oppose abortion in most cases and support gun rights.

Like most Utahns, we don’t fit neatly into the partisan labels. And that is the point. Unlike the Democrats, we will seek to appeal to Utah voters. Unlike the Republicans, we will not take Utah voters for granted.

The United Utah Party will restore a two-party system to our state. Once again, voters will have a real option in general elections rather than an automatic rejection of one candidate (if there is even one on the ballot) and the coronation of another who believes the election was over with the convention or, on rare occasions, the primary election.

United Utah is the way out of our one-party system. If you are tired of one-party Republican rule but do not feel Democrats are willing to appeal to you, then here is a party that offers a real choice. For voters who want a voice in choosing representatives, United Utah is the answer.

Come join us at unitedutah.org. Help us restore a two-party political system to our state.